Viewers evaluate display systems based on many criteria such as image size, resolution, contrast ratio, color purity, and brightness. Image brightness is a particularly important metric in many display markets since the available brightness can limit the image size of a projected image and controls how well the image can be seen in venues having high levels of ambient light.
Projection display designers increase the brightness of a given projection display by increasing the light source used to form the image. Increasing the light source, however, also increases the cost, size, and weight of the display system. Additionally, larger light sources generate additional heat that must be dissipated by the display.
Many other factors affect the brightness of the images produced by the display system. One of the major factors is the number of modulators used to modulate the light used to produce the image. Display systems that use a modulator with a very fast response time, such as the digital micromirror device (DMD™), can use a single modulator to create a full color image. Other display systems use three modulators, such as liquid crystal display (LCD) panels or DMDs, to create a full color image.
Micromirror-based display systems typically operate the micromirrors in a digital, or bistable, manner. Digital operation fully deflects a given micromirror to either a first position or a second position. The illumination optics of the display device illuminate the entire array of micromirror cells. Micromirrors deflected to the first position reflect light along a first path, whereas micromirrors deflected to a second position reflect light along a second path. The projection optics of the display system collects the light from the mirrors in the first position and focus the light onto an image plane. The light reflected by mirrors in the second position is prevented from reaching the image plane. An image pixel associated with a mirror in the first position is brightly illuminated, whereas an image pixel associated with mirrors in the second position are not illuminated.
Pulse width modulation creates the perception of gray scale intensities with a digital micromirror device or other spatial light modulator. When using pulse width modulation, a given micromirror element is rapidly turned on and off in response to a digital intensity word. The duty cycle of the mirror determines the total amount of light contributed to an image pixel. If the pixel is pulsed quickly enough, the human eye will accurately measure the average intensity of the pixel, but will fail to detect the pulsing.
Full-color images also are produced by taking advantage of the relatively slow response time of the human eye. Each frame period is divided into at least three periods. During each period, a primary color image is produced. If the primary color images are produced in rapid succession, the eye will perceive a single full-color-image.
An alternative to the sequential color display system is a three-modulator display system. The three-modulator display system is very similar to the sequential color display system in that they both form full color images by the combining three primary color images. The disadvantage of the three-modulator display system is the cost of the three modulators and the complex optics required both to split the white light beam from the light source into three primary color light beams and to recombine the modulated primary color light beams.
The disadvantage of the single-modulator sequential color display systems is its low image brightness. Because the white light source is time-divided into three primary color light beams, most of the light at any given time is not used. For example, when the blue primary color image is being formed, the green and red output of the white light source are filtered out of the light beam. Thus, a sequential color display system, while generally less expensive than the three-modulator display system, makes very inefficient use of the light produced by the light source.
The lost light not only reduces the brightness of the image produced by the display system, discarding the light creates several problems for the display system. The light filtered out of the light beam generally becomes stray light that the display system must control to prevent from reaching the image plane and degrading the contrast of the displayed image. The off-primary light is generally converted to heat. The heat must be dissipated by using larger fans, which in turn increase the noise produced by the display system and increase the size of the display system.
What is needed is an efficient illumination system that is capable of providing the efficiency of a three-modulator display system while taking advantage of the simplified optics and low cost of a one-modulator display system.